This post is excerpted from the IsoGrid Protocol Specification v0.220. If you’d like to skip ahead, check out the spec!

These are the requirements I started with before designing the IsoGrid.

Socioeconomic Vision:

• Lower barriers to entry in markets for goods and services that rely on networks
• Empower individuals to improve their lives
• Increase individual freedom

Primary Technical Requirements

• Very-low maximum-latency bounds
  • No overcommit, no oversubscribe
  • Always QOS
• Efficiently scales to arbitrarily high bandwidth links
• Efficiently scales to arbitrarily high node/switch count
• Mesh Topology
  • Multi-path redundancy
  • Disaster Resistant
  • Seamless connectivity for mobile and “Internet of Things” nodes
  • Avoid global protocol mandates that limit economic freedom

Secondary Tech Requirements:

• Differential GPS everywhere, even indoors?
• Great multi-cast
  • Any switch is allowed to be a multi-caster
• Support for asymmetric links
• Enable high-quality crowd-sourced deep-space antenna arrays
• Enable efficient use of long-haul space-based wireless laser meshes
• IP Tunnels over The IsoGrid should be better than existing non-LAN networks with respect to:
  • Reliability
  • Latency
  • Cost
  • Speed
  • Security

Non-Goals:

• Does not need to be limited to wireless networks
• Does not need to be simple, or easy
• Does not need to fit into existing hardware
• Does not need to work easily with existing infrastructure
• Does not need to preserve or promote existing power structures
• Does not need to conform to any ‘model’ of networking

Discussion is at Hacker News!